Squash has unsuccessfully campaigned for inclusion in the Olympics since 1992, despite being one of the most popular sports worldwide with over 20 million players. It will apply for the eighth time to be included, competing against 25 other sports. Squash meets many of the criteria for inclusion - it has representation from 26 countries in the top players and courts in 188 countries. However, concerns over its ability to be a spectator sport have held it back. Recent rule and viewing changes have aimed to make the game more understandable and watchable for audiences. While arguments will continue to be made for its inclusion, squash likely faces another disappointment and missing out on inclusion in the Olympics.

1. Squash: The IOC’s Forgotten Sport
Squashhas campaignedforitsinclusioninthe OlympicGamessince Barcelona1992 and,despite
beingone of the most popularsportsinthe world,withover20 millionpeople playingworldwide,it
continuestobe overlooked bythe IOC(InternationalOlympicCommittee).Butwhy?
The sport will applyforthe eighthtime inarow to be part of the world’smostprestigioussporting
competition,alongwith25othersports,includingotherfavouritesbaseball-softball andnetball,and
some more hopeful applicants,suchasbridge,chessandtug-of-war,the latterlastinvolvedinthe
Gamesin 1920. Withsuch a followinginsomanycountriesandsuch weakcompetition,itisa
surprise toall involvedinthe sportandmanyothersthat squashhas notbeenincludedyet.
It iswidelyacknowledgedthatfora sportto be includedinthe competition,winninganOlympicgold
medal shouldbe the pinnacle of anathlete’scareer.Yet,everyyear,whenplausible,popularsports
are recommendedtobe addedtothe Games,anothersportwithmore of an internationalprofile is
undeservedlyaddedintheirplace.Thiswasparticularlyapparentinthe inclusionof golf asastroke
playtournamentinthe 2016 Olympics,whichwill be heldinRiode Janeiro. Althoughgolf hasan
extensive globalappeal andallowsalarge numberof countriestostake theirclaimfora medal,the
tournamentwill neverbe regardedbythe sport’sfansinthe same way as the four“majors” are.
There are numerousothersports,onthe otherhand,withsquashone of the mosthighprofile,in
whichthe Olympicswouldinfactbe the tournamentthatplayerstrainhardestforand whichwould
be the peakof any player’scareer.Itis,however,still usurpedbylessdeservingorlesspopular
sports.
Moreover, 26 countriesare representedinthe top50 playersinmen’sandwomen’ssquashand
there are squashcourts in 188 countriesandterritoriesaroundthe world,soitcannotbe accusedof
lackingglobal supportandbeingincludedpurelytoimprovethe chancesof a few countries.This
shouldgive itanadvantage overa fewof the othermostlikelysportstobe considered,suchas
baseball andAmericanfootball,asitwill neverbe a foregone conclusionastowhichcountrieswill
walkawaywithmedals.Thisisparticularlytrue inthe men’sgame,where 5of the top6 playersin
the worldcome from differentcountries.
Squashalsogivesanopportunityforsmallercountries,who wouldnotusually winsomanymedals
duringthe course of an OlympicGamestomove themselvesupthe medal table,asnone of China,
USA, Russiaand,to an extent,Australiaare knownfortheirsquashprowess.Ratheritwouldbe
countriessuchas Egypt,UK, Colombia,France andMalaysiacompetingforthe medal places.
On the otherhand,as withany sport,there are some concernsabout itssuitabilityforinclusion,the
primarybeingitscapacityas a spectatorsport. Unfortunately,squashhasbeenunable tofinda
sufficientsolutiontothisproblemthusfar. Due to the speedof play andthe complexityof some of
the rules,particularly aboutinterruptionsinplay - i.e.lets(wherethe pointisreplayed) andstrokes
(where the pointisawardedtothe playerwhoisimpeded) –those whohave limitedknowledge can
oftenfindthe sportconfusingtowatchand therefore boring.There have,however,beensignificant
changes,particularlyforTV,to make the game much more understandableforviewers.Forexample,
the ball isnow white,ratherthanblack,to make itmore visible onscreen,andvideoreplaysand
videorefereeshave beenintroducedtomake eachdecisionclearertothe audience andto eliminate
referee error.If squashcontinuestofindwaystomake squashmore watchable tothe untrainedeye,
thenit couldwell remove one of itsgreatestobstaclesinitsfightforIOCrecognition.

2. There isalso a commonbelief amongthe global population,particularlyinyoungerpeople,that
squashismerelyasport for the oldergeneration.The currentsquashcommunity,however,would
verymuch begto differ.Asinmanysports,as eachgenerationbeginsitsdecline,anew one comes
to take its place. Inthe worldof professional squashforinstance,playerswhohave dominatedfor
the last five years,suchasAmr Shabanaand, to a lesserextent,NickMatthew andGregoryGaultier
are beginningtofade,butthe sporthasbeenreinvigoratedbythe emergenceof playerssuchas
currentworldnumberone MohamedEl Shorbagy,whowill be followedclosely inthe nextfew years
by risingtalentslike hisbrotherMarwan,FaresDessouki and DiegoElias.Furthermore,eveninlocal
leagues,the topendof clubsquashis increasinglybecomingayoungerman’sgame,assquash
continuestobecome one of the world’s mostpopularsports.
Despite anyargumentsthrownatthe IOC every4 yearsby those fightingforsquash’sinclusion,
however,itseemsalmostinevitable thatsquashwill againmissoutona seatat sport’shighesttable.
For now,itmust be contentto be the bestof the rest,the sportthat neverquite caughtthe world’s
interest.